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The Best Chili Ever Recipe A methodical approach to perfecting classic beef chili.
serious eats ^

Posted on 01/31/2022 3:17:16 PM PST by mylife

gotta admit up front: The title of this article is somewhat misleading. Yes, we will discuss chili, and yes, it's the best chili I personally have ever made.

But! To call something "the best chili ever" implies that the recipe is perfect, and perfection implies that there is no room for improvement. I can only hope that others will continue perfecting the chili work that began on the Tex-Mex border, and that I continue testing, well after the last rich and spicy remnant is licked clean off the bottom of the bowl. With that disclaimer out of the way, let's move on to the testing.

My first step was to set up some parameters that would define the ultimate chili. Certainly, there are disputes in the chili world as to what makes the best. Ground beef or chunks? Are tomatoes allowed? Should we even mention beans? But I think we can all agree on a few things.

The ultimate chili should:

Have a rich, complex chile flavor that combines sweet, bitter, hot, fresh, and fruity elements in balance. Have a robust, meaty, beefy flavor. Assuming that it contains beans, have beans that are tender, creamy, and intact. Be bound together by a thick, deep-red sauce.

To achieve these goals, I decided to break down the chili into its distinct elements—the chiles, the beef, the beans, and the flavorings—perfecting each one before putting them all together in one big happy pot.

The Chiles: this important, as is the meat, i add beef chorizo as well

(Excerpt) Read more at seriouseats.com ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Food; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: chili; food; recipes
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To: Do_Tar

Ha. Honestly I do that when it’s just me. Mask the awful flavor with a ton of crackers.


61 posted on 01/31/2022 4:22:55 PM PST by TermLimits4All (Biden will never be my President. There’s only 1 option left and it won’t be pretty.)
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To: mylife

This summer on a trip we stopped for gas in Chugwater, WY. They bragged their chili as the best so my friend bought me an envelope as I liked my chili. Oh my goodness, it was delicious!!! Plus, it came together in minutes!!

Anyone tried this?


62 posted on 01/31/2022 4:23:40 PM PST by YouGoTexasGirl ( )
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To: CodeToad

It’s chili beans (beans in a chili sauce) which is fine.

But it is not beans in the chili (not fine).

And yes, the “T” is for Texas.

.


63 posted on 01/31/2022 4:27:06 PM PST by TLI (ITINERIS IMPENDEO VALHALLA)
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To: Osage Orange

why pour off the rotels?? then add water? wtf?


64 posted on 01/31/2022 4:28:23 PM PST by mylife (France? what can you say? How do you rule a land with 246 kinds of cheese?)
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To: mylife

Bkmk chili


65 posted on 01/31/2022 4:30:26 PM PST by ptsal (Vote R.E.D. >>>Remove Every Democrat ***)
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and effa jalapenos, Serranos baby!


66 posted on 01/31/2022 4:31:16 PM PST by mylife (France? what can you say? How do you rule a land with 246 kinds of cheese?)
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To: mylife; LastDayz; hoe_cake; carriage_hill; Pigsley; Political Junkie Too; Pox; eclecticEel
My chili is basically cleaning out the refrigerator and pantry of items close to their expiration dates, which should be like fingernails grating on a chalkboard to you people. The last batch used three MRE’s, much celery/carrots/onions, one can of black beans, freezer burned chuck steak, two cans regular and one hot Nalley’s chili, and seasonings.

That is probably the reason I end up eating most of it myself.

67 posted on 01/31/2022 4:31:57 PM PST by Retain Mike ( Sat Cong)
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and 5 tiny chiltepins, this is all the heat you want, the other chiles are for depth of flavor


68 posted on 01/31/2022 4:33:28 PM PST by mylife (France? what can you say? How do you rule a land with 246 kinds of cheese?)
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To: chronicles

Garnish with two tables spoons of chopped dill pickles


69 posted on 01/31/2022 4:35:39 PM PST by ptsal (Vote R.E.D. >>>Remove Every Democrat ***)
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To: Hootowl99

Good idea; I’m gonna try it on my next 5gal pot of chili! Thx!


70 posted on 01/31/2022 4:36:19 PM PST by Carriage Hill (A society grows great when old men plant trees, in whose shade they know they will never sit.)
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To: hoe_cake

Makes sense. Color can be more appetizing.

But most people here in the southwest stick with the pinto beans.


71 posted on 01/31/2022 4:36:30 PM PST by laplata
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To: mylife

Go to Terlingua, enter it in the competition, The Big CASI Cook Off, and see what they think. You’ll find out if it’s any good.


72 posted on 01/31/2022 4:36:41 PM PST by slouper (LWRC SPR 5.5 6)
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To: Retain Mike

years ago I considered writing an MRE cookbook, but any swinging dick knows how to make them taste better, and there are many books on the subject.

#1 fire makes it better...


73 posted on 01/31/2022 4:36:59 PM PST by mylife (France? what can you say? How do you rule a land with 246 kinds of cheese?)
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To: slouper

I have won many Tx chili cook offs


74 posted on 01/31/2022 4:38:07 PM PST by mylife (France? what can you say? How do you rule a land with 246 kinds of cheese?)
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To: Retain Mike

Are you a vet?


75 posted on 01/31/2022 4:39:36 PM PST by laplata
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To: Retain Mike

fire makes spam better :)


76 posted on 01/31/2022 4:43:39 PM PST by mylife (France? what can you say? How do you rule a land with 246 kinds of cheese?)
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To: tet68

I don’t remember where but I saw one recipe that called for grinding up tostitos or the like to use as thickener in chili. I am not sure if that would be a good sub for Masa and I’ve not tried either. I like to use cocoa powder.


77 posted on 01/31/2022 4:49:00 PM PST by lastchance (Credo.)
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To: mylife

Fritos!


78 posted on 01/31/2022 4:49:21 PM PST by waterhill (Resist)
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problem is the last pot cost $45 to make and now prices are crazy


79 posted on 01/31/2022 4:50:13 PM PST by mylife (France? what can you say? How do you rule a land with 246 kinds of cheese?)
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To: waterhill

as you wish, I servem on the side


80 posted on 01/31/2022 4:51:18 PM PST by mylife (France? what can you say? How do you rule a land with 246 kinds of cheese?)
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